Chapter 9

When Ron woke up in the morning Brenda was lying in front of him and had her back to his chest. Ron's arm was over her and Brenda had pulled his hand over her breast and had her hand over his holding it in place. Ron tried to free his hand so that he could crawl out of the shelter. Brenda pulled his hand back to her breast. Ron lifted himself to look at her face. She was still asleep. Ron gently pulled his hand away from her and crawled out of the shelter.

Ron went to the stream and splashed some water on his face to wake himself up. He looked down the stream and saw a movement in the stream about 100 feet from where he was standing. Ron started toward the movement. The place that the movement came from was a relatively calm stretch about 30 long. Ron continued to look to see what had made the movement. A large trout stuck its head out from under a rock. The trout had apparently been trapped in the shallow pool by the fast moving current and the rocks above and below the shallow pool. The trout looked large.

Ron took his shirt off and approached the rock. The trout pulled his head back under the rock. Ron wet his shirt thoroughly and approached the rock intending to use the shirt as a trap. His first several tries at trapping the trout were unsuccessful. The trout would slip past the shirt and dart out to mid-stream. As soon as Ron got his shirt out of the water the trout would dart back under the rock. On the 4^th attempt Ron made sure that his shirt was covering the escape routes of the trout and started putting his hands under the rock to grab the trout. GOTCHA! Ron rose with the trout firmly in his grasp. He quickly walked to the stream bank and back to the camp with the trout wrapped in the shirt.

Ron filleted the trout and prepared to cook the fish for breakfast. After the fish was cooked he powered a part of an MRE and proceeded to make a passable gravy. The concoction smelled like something for heaven.

Brenda woke and crawled out of the shelter. She saw Ron at the fire preparing breakfast. She got dressed and walked over to him. Her nose was drawing her to the delicious smell of whatever Ron was cooking. She walked up behind Ron and was there for a minute before he knew that she was there.

"My God, what is the beautiful smell?" she asked.

Ron turned around, "I thought that you might like fresh trout for breakfast this morning."

Ron explained how he had caught the fish and how he had made a gravy out of an MRE. Brenda didn't believe that he had caught a fish with his hands and questioned him about it while they ate. Brenda felt that this was the best fish she had ever eaten and commended Ron on his cooking several times. Both of them ate their fill and there were no leftovers. After they had eaten, Brenda washed the dishes and Ron packed the gear for the day.

They started out and continued in the direction that they had been traveling. Ron had worked on Brenda's boots and she seemed to be having little trouble with them. As usual, Ron took the lead and the sled helped to clear a path for her. She still got smacked occasionally with a branch. The terrain was rocky and they seemed to be going to a higher elevation. Ron kept his eyes on the terrain. He did not want to have to climb over a mountain. He kept on the lookout for the easiest way through the woods. Brenda was doing better each day and she had learned a lot about living in the woods.

About mid-day, they came into a clearing by a stream and sat down to rest. Ron put down the sled poles and helped Brenda get the gear off of her back. They both were quiet and content to just relax and get their strength back. All of a sudden Ron sat upright.

"Brenda, do you smell smoke," he asked, "I thought that I smelled smoke once yesterday."

Brenda sniffed trying to smell the smoke that Ron thought that he smelled. She could not smell smoke. She shook her head no.

"I don't smell anything," she said, wishing that she had smelled smoke. She knew that it would mean they would be able to get help.

"I'm going to climb up higher and see if I can see smoke. There might be a cabin around here. Stay right here and don't move," Ron said. "I'll be back in an hour or so."

Brenda nodded her head and Ron started into the woods. The going was not too rough without the sled and he started the climb up the hill. The woods had thinned out a little and he made good time. As he got to the top of the hill he looked in all directions but could not see any smoke. He wondered if it was only his imagination or if he was only wishing he smelled smoke. As he stared out over the woods a small whiff of smoke cleared the tree and then he saw nothing. His heart jumped into his throat. Maybe they could get some help.

Ron heard a scream from down the hill toward the place that he left Brenda. He turned and started running down the hill. He fell twice and had to slow down, as the hill was steep. As he neared the place where he had left Brenda he heard voices. Ron started walking as silently as he could through the woods. As he approached the clearing he got down low and flipped the safety off of the rifle and made sure the Glock was within easy reach. He reached the end of the woods and lay down on the ground.

Ron saw two men drag Brenda over to a tree and the edge of the woods. They were about 150 feet from Ron. The men were dressed in filthy, ragged clothes and they looked like neither had had a bath in weeks. One of the men was about Ron's size and the other was short and skinny. When the skinny one smiled Ron saw that he only had a few teeth left. The larger of the two was apparently the leader. The large man tied Brenda's hands behind her to a tree with rawhide strips. He then smacked Brenda across the face.

"OK lady, where's your boyfriend," he asked with a sneer.

Brenda started crying and had her head down on her chest. The shorter man started toward Brenda.

"Get your gun and watch out for the boyfriend, dummy," the larger man snapped at the shorter man, "We don't want him sneaking up on us.

The shorter man went back and picked up his rifle. He kept watching what his partner and Brenda were doing. He never looked into the woods.

"OK lady," the larger man said, "I asked you where your boyfriend was. He grabbed Brenda's shirt.

"Our plane crashed in the lake and he was killed," Brenda sobbed.

"Bullshit bitch," the man snarled, "No way you could carry all this stuff. Now where is he?"

Brenda was silent except for her sobs. The shorter man was staring at Brenda and it was apparent to Ron that he was not too bright. Never once did he check the woods for whoever was with Brenda. The larger of the two men walked close to Brenda. He attempted to kiss her. Brenda pulled away and spit at him. He grabbed Brenda's shirt in both hands and ripped the shirt open, baring her breasts. He put his head down and sucked on her nipple. Brenda started screaming.

The shorter man put down his rifle and walked over to where the man was now mauling Brenda's breasts. This was what Ron had been waiting for; neither man had a weapon in his hands. When the shorter man was about 10 feet from his partner Ron fired a bullet into the ground in front of his feet. The shorter man froze. The big man jumped away from Brenda and saw that his partner didn't have his gun in his hand. He grabbed for his own gun and Ron fired a bullet in the ground in front of his feet. Both men froze.

"Freeze," Ron hollered, "Put your hands on top of your heads. Both men complied.

Ron started toward the pair and kept his gun on them. When he got close to the men he pulled out the Glock and back up to where Brenda was tied. He pulled out the hunting knife from his belt and cut the rawhide. Brenda dropped to the ground and continued sobbing. Ron let her cry and held the Glock on the two men. Both men stared at the Glock and apparently knew what the pistol could do to them. When Brenda started to calm down, Ron made the two men lie facedown in the dirt and spread their legs and arms out as far as they could. Brenda came over to Ron and buried her face in his arm. She held her shirt together in front of her with her hand. Ron had Brenda pull the gear that she had been carrying over to the sled.

"OK boys," Ron said, " Shorty, you pick up the gear by the sled and your buddy can drag the sled. We're going to your cabin."

"We ain't got no cabin," the big man spit.

Ron kicked the man's foot; "I saw the smoke from your fire."

"We didn't build a fire in the cabin this morning," the short man shouted.

The big man snarled at his partner. Ron instructed them to get up and start for the cabin. He told them that if they took their hands off of the sled and gear that he would shoot them. Ron was even more convinced now that the shorter of the two was either very slow or borderline retarded. They started toward the cabin with both men carrying the loads and complaining every foot of the way. Several times the larger of the two would tell Ron what he was going to do to Ron and Brenda when he had his chance.

Tallorder64

Chapter 10